


Next Right Thing

by fandomsnstuff



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Ambiguous Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Reunions, Family Secrets, Gen, Inspired by Disney, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23488405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomsnstuff/pseuds/fandomsnstuff
Summary: The Queen of Arendelle spends her all her days working. Her main goal is to ensure the lives of her people are as happy and peaceful as they can be. Her Majesty works hard. Too hard, sometimes, for she rarely takes the time to relax.But for once, she takes the advice of her brother, and does something for herself. She sets out with her brother to find answers to some of her lifelong questions, and ends up finding so much more.aka: the Frozen II inspired au that no one asked for and yet I love it oh so very much, so here we are.
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. The Royal Family

It’s a cold spring day in Arendelle when a baby is born. A very important baby. 

Inside the castle, the mother sits up in bed, holding her baby in her arms with her husband at her side. They’re alone, the few members of medical personnel having been quickly dismissed from the room. The mother smiles and brushes a finger gently over her baby’s cheek. 

“Hi Lilli,” she says softly. “We’ve waited a long time for you.” 

For the new princess to be brought into the world, her mother had to perform complex magic. Old magic, often used among her people for having children. Despite being commonplace, this magic is typically meant for more than one person to perform, but any others who can use magic are… unavailable. She had to figure it out on her own. It took time, but their baby is here, finally, and she’s perfect.

Her husband kisses her temple. “I knew you could do it,” he says. 

The baby, Princess Lilliana of Arendelle, starts to squirm in her mother’s arms. Her tiny pointed ears press themselves against the sides of her head as her face scrunches up. Then she wakes up, and she looks at her parents with beautiful golden eyes. Her father reaches out and caresses the barely-there wisps of hair on the top of her head. Her ears twitch slightly at the touch. 

“I almost don’t want you to put the glamour on her,” he says to his wife, his voice just above a whisper.

“Me neither,” she responds. “But I have to.” 

“I know.” 

The new parents sit quietly and simply look at their little girl in silence for a few minutes more. Then there’s a knock at the door. 

“Your Majesties?” 

The doctor. The King and Queen meet each other's eyes. Queen Lup of Arendelle nods, and King Barry of Arendelle stands to go open the door. Before he does, though, the Queen waves a hand over her daughter. Her tiny pointed ears turn round, her golden eyes turn to a soft hazel, and in less than a moment she looks perfectly human. Just like her mother. 

The doctor comes into the room, adamant on looking over the new baby to ensure everything is as it should be. With the glamour now securely in place, Lup hands her off easily. 

The boy, despite being older, comes later. 

His grandfather works in the castle, although what exactly he does, none of them are ever quite sure. He putters around and brings things to them if they ask. He’ll dust and tidy up, he’s kind and funny and tells good stories, so they keep him on the payroll. Then, a few months before the princess is born, he comes to work with a little boy in tow. 

Barry is sitting in the library when they walk in. 

“Oh, your Majesty,” the grandfather says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” 

“It’s no disturbance,” Barry says. He sets his book aside and looks at the young boy. “Who is this?” 

“My grandson,” the grandfather says. “His parents passed a short while ago, and I’m his only guardian now. I couldn’t leave him at home alone, and I don’t want to make him stay on his feet all day following me around. He’s a bright boy, enjoys reading, so I thought I’d leave him here for the day. If that’s alright.” 

“Of course, it’s no problem at all.” Barry stands from his chair and crouches in front of the boy. “What’s your name?” 

“Angus McDonald, your Majesty.” 

Barry smiles. “How old are you, Angus?” 

“I just turned seven, your Majesty.” 

“And you like to read, huh?” 

“Yes, your Majesty. And I’m very good at it.” 

Barry chuckles. “Well, how about you and I go find you some books to read, and we can let your grandpa do his work?” 

Angus’s eyes go big, magnified by the glasses that take up half his face. “You mean it?” 

Barry stands. “Sure,” he holds out a hand to Angus, “come on.” 

Angus looks up at his grandpa. 

“Go on,” he says, “I’ll come and get you later.” 

Angus grins, and turns back to Barry, taking his hand and letting himself be led deeper into the library.

From then on, Angus accompanies his grandpa to the castle whenever he works, and he loves it. He loves the library and the endless shelves of books. He likes the King and Queen and all the other workers in the castle. They all sneak him treats and the King and Queen let him take books home from the library. He likes it when he gets to see the baby Princess. She’s so tiny, it’s hard to imagine her being big, but he knows she’s going to get bigger and bigger and one day  _ she’s _ going to be the Queen. He thinks it’s fun to imagine what she’ll be like when that time comes. 

Being in the castle is good. It makes Angus happy. Which is why it’s the first place he goes on the worst morning of his life. 

On this particular morning, Lup is walking by near the front entrance of the castle with an almost-one-year-old Lilliana in her arms. She then notices a little bit of a commotion at the main door. Four members of staff are gathered around in a small semi circle, one kneeling and the other three standing around her. Lup walks over to them. 

“What’s going on?” 

All four of them jump, startled. “Your Majesty,” the one that was kneeling stands and steps to the side, “it’s Angus.” 

And, yes, Lup can see that now. Angus is standing there in his coat and shoes, an absolute mess of tears. 

“We don’t know what’s wrong,” another staff member says. “He just came bursting through the door crying.” 

Lup hands Lilliana off to one of the staff members and kneels down in front of Angus. “Hey, Angus,” she gently wipes away some of the tears on his cheeks, “what happened? What’s got you so upset?” 

“My grandpa-” he sobs, more tears rolling down his cheeks, “my grandpa.” 

Lup pulls him into her arms, and Angus sobs into her shoulder. She looks up at the staff standing around them. “Send someone to Angus’s house,” she says, “check up on his grandfather, see what’s happened.” 

Three of the four staff members rush off, the one holding Lilliana stays put. 

“Your Majesty-” 

“She’ll need to eat soon, but otherwise take her back up to the nursery. Keep her occupied while I take care of Angus.” 

The staff member nods and walks off. 

A couple of guards are promptly sent to Angus’s house. They find that Angus’s grandpa had gone to bed the night before, and passed away peacefully in his sleep. As the only other person in the house, Angus was unfortunate enough to be the one to find him. 

They have a funeral for him, and it feels as if everyone in the kingdom shows up for it. He was well-liked and often willing to help his neighbours. 

As for Angus, he moves into the castle. In the year that he spent accompanying his grandfather to work, Lup and Barry grew fond of him, and so they asked if he’d like to live in the castle with them. He, to their delight, said yes. 

“Does this make me part of the royal family now?” He asks Barry a few months after he moved in. 

Barry looks up from the book he’s reading. Angus is avoiding eye contact, staring intently down at his own book, fiddling with the edge of the page. “Would you like to be?” 

Angus shrugs. Barry puts aside his book and shifts in his seat to be facing Angus more directly. 

“Angus, could you look at me, please?” 

Angus finally looks at him, and Barry can see in his eyes how nervous he is. “Do you feel like you’re part of our family?” 

Angus nods, looking embarrassed. 

Barry smiles. “Good, because we feel like you are too.” 

“You do?” Angus asks, his voice small. 

“Yes, and we thought about making you an official part of the family, but we figured it should be your decision.” 

Angus’s eyes sparkle, and his smile grows wide. He opens his mouth to answer, but Barry interrupts him. “I don’t want you to give me an answer right now.” 

Angus’s smile drops. “Why not?” 

“Because you need to understand that if you say yes, you’re going to be a Prince, and you’re going to have lots of duties and responsibilities to uphold as you get older. Take some time to think about it. You can ask me anything you want about princehood, and then you can let us know, okay?” 

Angus spends the next little while thinking about it. He grills Barry with questions and takes note of the answers. It isn’t brought up again until about a year after he started living in the castle, when he finally gives Lup and Barry his answer. 

A few weeks later, Prince Angus of Arendelle is crowned.


	2. The Powers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something interesting happens in the nursery. Lup and Barry react accordingly.

It takes about six months for Lilliana’s powers to make themselves known. 

It happens when Barry and Lup are taking a break from their duties and the three of them are alone in the nursery. Barry is sitting cross-legged on the floor and Lup is kneeling a few feet away from him. Lilliana is sitting in front of Barry, and he’s got his hands loosely around her middle to support her as Lup waves a doll at her. 

“Do you want the doll?” Lup says. Lilliana grabs for it, but Lup holds it just out of her reach. “You have to come get it.” 

Lilliana makes grabby hands for the doll and whines when Lup keeps it away from her. 

“You have to crawl if you want it,” she says. 

Lilliana doesn’t crawl. Instead, she keeps whining and reaching for the doll, staying firmly seated on the ground. 

“Come on, Lilli,” Lup sing-songs, “you can do it.” 

Lilliana leans forward, stretching and trying to reach the doll without moving from her spot when a small plume of flame shoots from her hands and over the doll, singeing it slightly. Both her parents stare at her, dumbstruck. Lilliana whines again, and Lup gives her the doll this time. She coos happily, oblivious. Lup sits back on her haunches and looks up at Barry. 

“You saw that too, right? I’m not imagining things?” She says. 

“Yeah, no, that was- that was definitely real.” He shifts his gaze from Lilliana up to Lup. “Is that… normal? For you guys?” 

“No, magic is- it doesn’t work like that.” She looks down at her daughter, happily fiddling with the lightly burnt doll. “You can’t _ do _ accidental magic. Magic is learned, magic is on purpose.” 

“But it was fire.” 

“It sure was.” 

“That was your specialty, wasn’t it? Before…”

“Yep.” 

“So… maybe that has something to do with it?” 

Lup shakes her head. “No, there’s no way. The key to magic is channelling raw magical energy into the specific effect you want. Doing that is difficult. It takes time to learn and get right and it’s not… instinctual.” 

“Could it be from the magic you used to-” 

“No. No, we’ve been using that spell to have kids for generations.” 

Lup shifts so she’s sitting cross-legged too. Lilliana, noticing her movement, looks up at her and reaches her arms out towards her, dropping the doll to the floor. Lup pulls Lilliana into her lap. 

“What’s going on with you?” She says. “Why can you do magic, hm? What’s up with that?” 

Lilliana, being just barely six months old, only makes some baby noises in response. She attempts to grab and pull at the loose pieces of Lup’s hair. She offers Lilliana her fingers to grab at instead. 

“Lup?” She looks up at Barry, who looks completely out of his depth. “What do you think this means?” 

“I don’t know, babe.” She looks down at Lilliana, now enamoured with a ring on her mother’s finger. Lup sighs. “I don’t know.” 

Lup and Barry decide that Lilliana’s powers have to stay secret from everyone else. 

Their biggest concern was if she’d do something when she’s alone with her nanny while they worked. But the months go by, and nothing changes. The nanny doesn’t quit, nor does she seem concerned or afraid. Everything is fine. 

Then Angus moves in. They keep it a secret from him too, deciding that maybe they’ll tell him when he’s older. But one night when they’re tucking him into bed, a month or two into him living in the castle, Angus says, “so when were you going to tell me that Lilliana has magic fire powers?” 

Lup and Barry both go stiff. Lup recovers first. “What are you talking about, Angus?” 

Angus sits up and grabs a book off his nightstand. He opens it to a spot marked with a bookmark and holds it up. Burnt into either page is a tiny toddler handprint. “I was reading to her earlier today, then she got excited and started hitting the pages and this happened when she pulled her hands away.” 

Something seems to dawn on him, his eyes lighting up. He closes the book and puts it down as he scrambles up onto his knees, leaning excitedly towards Lup and Barry. “Do you guys have magic powers too? Is it a royal thing? Have all the royals been magical? Where does it come from? Can I-” 

“Angus.” Lup interrupts his barrage of questions. He falls quiet as Lup looks him in the eye, “No, magic is not a royal thing, Lilli is the only one with it. You can’t tell  _ anyone _ about this, understand?”

“Why not?” 

“Because,” Barry says, “a lot of the time people are afraid of things they don’t understand. It’s for Lilli’s own safety that her powers stay secret.” 

“But where did they come from?” 

“We don’t know,” Lup says. “All we can do is just… keep an eye on them.”

Barry puts a hand on Angus’s shoulder and levels him with a serious look. “Angus, you  _ have _ to promise to keep this a secret. No one can know but us.” 

Angus nods, his face awfully serious for an eight year old. “I promise. I’ll make sure nothing bad ever happens to her.” 

Lup smiles and ruffles his hair. “That’s my boy.” 

~

As Lilliana gets older, her powers get stronger.

Lup takes it upon herself to try and help her learn to control them. Lilliana’s magic is different than any Lup’s ever seen, but she specialized in fire magic. It was her  _ thing _ . If anyone can figure it out, it’s Lup. 

They spend hours alone in Lilliana’s room. They sit on the floor, Lilliana with her hands cupped in front of her and resting on top of Lup’s, a small flame flickering between them. 

“Remember,” Lup says, “just breathe, stay calm-” 

“And don’t be afraid,” Lilliana says, finishing the mantra. 

There are bad days too. Days where her powers aren’t behaving how she’d like, days where she’s frustrated and tired and the magic reacts accordingly. 

An eight-year old Lilliana sits cross-legged on the floor of her room, Lup across from her and an unlit candle sitting between them. She stares intently at the candle, willing it to light up. When nothing happens, she crosses her arms and huffs, frustrated. The fire in the hearth next to her flares up accordingly. Seeing this, Lilliana groans (prompting the fire to flare again) and falls back to lay down on the carpet. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” 

Lup moves to sit next to her. “You’re not doing anything wrong,” she brushes loose hair out of Lilli’s face and tucks it behind her ear, “you just have to keep practising, you’ll get the hang of it.” 

Lilliana pouts and shifts her gaze from the ceiling to look at Lup. “How should you know, Mama? You don’t have magic.” 

Lup’s hand pauses in its ministrations with Lilli’s hair. She thinks, momentarily, about tiny pointed ears and sparkling golden eyes, but she forces the image away and ignores the dull ache in her chest. She sighs, smiling softly. “You’ve got me there, baby girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo what's this? Magic? Secrets? Intrigue? The mystery continues.


	3. Things To Do

“Do you have to go?” 

Barry looks over at Lilliana, ten years old, sitting cross-legged on his and Lup’s bed. “It’s just a short trip, we won’t be gone for long.” 

“I know, but,” she pouts and avoids meeting Barry’s eyes as she fiddles with a ribbon on her dress, “I’ll miss you.” 

Barry smiles softly and walks over to the bed. “I know you’re nervous about us leaving,” he sits down next to Lilliana and she leans into his side, “but it’s only a few weeks. You won’t even notice we’re gone.” 

“But what if something happens? What if I do something?”

“Nothing’s going to happen.”

“But what if something _does?_ ” She looks to Lup, who’s gazing out the glass balcony doors. “Mama, what if something happens? What if I can’t control it on my own?” 

Lup looks away from where she’d been staring at the horizon. She smiles and crosses the room to stand next to the bed. She leans down and presses a kiss to the top of Lilliana’s head. “You’re better at controlling your powers than you think you are. It has nothing to do with whether or not I’m here, it’s all you.” 

Lilliana frowns, looking back down at her lap. 

“But if you’re really nervous about it,” Lup says, “just remember what we say: breathe, stay calm…” 

“And don’t be afraid.” Lilliana says quietly.

“Exactly.” Lup sits on Lilliana’s other side, putting a gentle hand on her back. “You have nothing to worry about. We’ll be back before the first snowfall.” 

~

Lup stands in the royal chambers below deck, desperately trying to keep her balance as the boat rocks dangerously in the unforgiving sea. It’s barely a week into their trip and it’s already going so, so wrong. She can hear Barry and the Captain above deck shouting orders to the crewmen. The ones that are left, anyway. 

Lup knows it’s no use. The water elemental is angry, and she will take her revenge where she can get it. It’s only a matter of time until the sea takes down the boat and everyone on board. Lup feels so _stupid._ She should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy. She should’ve known that the water elemental would attack them. She feels helpless. She feels _guilty_. The entire crew is going to be lost, and it’s her fault. 

And Lilli, her sweet baby girl, left to be Queen with Angus at her side. They’re so _young_. 

Lup is racking her brain for something, anything she can do, and an idea comes to her. She runs and throws open the door to the upper deck. 

“Barry!” 

He turns to look at her. He’s soaking wet, as is the Captain standing next to him and the remaining crewmen that are running around following orders. He runs over to her, and Lup heads back down into their chambers. He follows suit, closing the door behind him. 

“Lup, what-” 

“I have an idea,” Lup says, turning back to face him. “It’s-” she sighs- “this ship is doomed, Barry. I was stupid, I should’ve known this would happen. We’re all done for, but I think I can save the two of us, at least.” 

Barry doesn’t say anything. Lup wraps a hand around her wedding ring, hanging from a chain around her neck. “It’s this one spell,” she says, “it might be a bit of a longshot, but I think at this point it’s our only chance of surviving this.” 

Barry takes hold of Lup’s other hand. “I trust you.” 

Lup nods, the hand at her chest beginning to glow, and as the ship is dragged down into the ocean, a ring clatters to the floor.

~

The Royal Council waits two months before officially declaring the King and Queen lost at sea, presumed dead. Every single person in the kingdom spends days mourning the loss. Except one. 

From the moment the death of her parents is declared, Lilliana’s education is expedited. The attention of her tutors becomes focused solely on preparing her to rule. She doesn’t have time to mourn. She gets squirreled away in her study, day after day, sunrise to sunset, learning everything she needs to know to be Queen. Politics, history, etiquette, the nuances of a royal social life… 

When the night comes, she lays in her bed and she doesn’t sleep. She can’t. She stares out her windows to the night beyond, and she contemplates. 

_How did they die?_

_Did it hurt?_

_Were they scared?_

_Were they thinking about me?_

Then the sun rises. She swallows her tears, pushes away her questions and the pain in her chest, she gets up, and she goes back to work. 

Her coronation takes place shortly after she turns 12. 

She keeps her chin up and her eyes forward as she stands at the head of the throne room. The words of the head councilman wash over her as he lowers a crown onto her head. It’s heavy, but she does not falter. She stands tall and proud and obediently still as those in attendance rise to their feet and _long live Queen Lilliana_ echoes through the room, ringing in her ears. 

There’s a ball, afterward. A party thrown in her honour. There’s food and drink and music. The party-goers dance, but she doesn’t. Some ask, including Angus, but all are rejected. 

“You should dance, your Majesty,” one of the bolder guests says. “This party is for you.”

“And since it is for me, I will stand here and observe it, thank you,” she responds.

The guest takes the hint and leaves her be.

The party ends and she returns to her bedroom. She’s helped out of her gown, her crown is removed from her head and put away, her hair is taken down from its updo, and makeup is wiped away from her face. When all physical evidence of the day has been removed from her person, the staff helping her depart, and Lilliana is left alone in the silence of her bedroom. She lays in her bed, staring at the wall, and the weight of the day comes crashing down on her. She finally lets herself break as sobs bubble up and out of her. She buries her head in her pillow to muffle them. 

Angus comes by and knocks on her door, but she presses further into her pillow, pretends to be asleep, and doesn’t give him the permission to come in. She lays still, holding her breath, until she hears him walk away. 

Sleep takes her, eventually, and she wakes the next morning with dried tear tracks down her cheeks. She scrubs them away with her hand as she gets out of bed. She forgets the sobs that wracked her body the night before as she gets dressed. She pushes away painful thoughts of her parents as she walks the halls of the castle toward her office. She keeps her spine straight and her shoulders back. She’s Queen now, officially, and she has work to do. 

She’s going to see to it that all her people are safe and taken care of, that their lives within her kingdom’s borders are as happy as they can be. 

Lilliana is going to be a Queen her parents could be proud of, she’s going to make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the working title for this chapter was Obligatory Disney Parent Murder :)


	4. The Start of Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wind storm blows through the kingdom. Lilliana makes a decision.

Arendelle is a place that’s cold year-round. The level of cold differs with the seasons, but it’s never what one would call warm. 

Springs are chilly, summers are mild, autumns are cold, and winters are hell. 

Lilliana spends the winter months checking up on her people. The castle is always open to those who need it. Food, blankets, shelter, firewood, anything they need, free for the taking. 

It’s become commonplace for people to intermittently congregate in the castle during the winter, even just for some extra warmth than what their homes can provide. What isn’t commonplace, though, is for it to happen during the summer. 

Lilliana is 22 years old, walking through the castle with Angus and her Chief of Staff, Lucretia, when they hear commotion from the foyer. Upon investigation, they find that there’s a number of townspeople there, milling about much like they do during the bitter, relentless cold of winter. 

Lilliana stands at the top of the stairs that lead down into the foyer. The head of the guard, Magnus, notices her from where he stands across the room and makes his way over. 

“Your Majesty,” he bows when he reaches her, “I’m sorry for the commotion-” 

“No need to apologize,” she says. “You know the people are always welcome here. Although, I am wondering  _ why _ they’re here. They don’t often come in a crowd like this this time of year.”

“From the sounds of it, there’s a bitter wind storm blowing through the kingdom, dropping the temperature a concerning amount.” 

“Open up the ballroom. There’s more space for them in there. It may be summer, but treat this no differently from when they come to us in the winter.” 

Magnus bows one more time and heads back to the crowd of people. Lilliana turns and walks away as he and the other guards shepherd people towards the ballroom. Angus and Lucretia follow behind her. 

“Your Majesty,” Lucretia says as they go, “we can postpone this discussion if you’d like to attend to your guests. It’s not an urgent matter.” 

Lilliana stops and looks back at her and Angus. She hums, thinking. “Yes, I think that might be for the best. Lucretia, you’re dismissed. Angus, you go ahead to the ballroom, I’ll join you shortly.”

Both of them nod and head back in the direction they came. Lilliana continues on, changing her route to head to her bedroom instead of her office. 

She closes her door behind her and leans back against it, closing her eyes and taking a rare moment for herself. 

There’s a rattling sound, and she opens her eyes to see her balcony doors shaking, a strong wind blowing against them. She crosses the room and presses a palm against the glass, holding the door in place and quieting its rattling. 

Lilliana has a higher-than-normal body temperature, with the magic fire powers and all, so the coolness of the glass doesn’t bother her as it seeps into her palm, nor do the few wisps of cold wind that sneak their way into her room. 

She looks out into the kingdom below. She observes the houses and shops that are dark, and the ones that have candlelight flickering in the windows. She watches the people as they run home through the cold and the wind. 

Then she looks beyond that. She looks to the paths that head out beyond the limits of her kingdom and towards the wilderness and the unknown. Her heart swells, the ghost of an old feeling settling in her chest. She always wanted to venture out past the kingdom when she was young, before she had responsibilities. 

_ “No, darling. You can’t go out there.”  _ The memory of her mother’s voice echoes in her mind.  _ “No one knows what’s hiding out in the trees. It’s dangerous.”  _

Lilliana rests her forehead against the glass.  _ You’re needed here,  _ the little voice in her head says.  _ Your people need you. _

She stands there for a moment, feeling the cool glass press against her warm skin, then she steps away. She turns, walks out of her bedroom, and heads to the ballroom. There, the guards and staff have settled those that came to the castle for refuge. Angus is off at the other end of the room, making rounds and talking to people.

Lilliana gives a small smile as she surveys the scene. She knows there are some kingdoms where the people rarely, if ever, go to the castle, and she’s proud of how willing her people are to come to her for help. 

“Papa, look! The Queen!” 

Lilliana hears a small voice, not yet skilled in keeping its volume down. She looks to see a young boy sitting in his father’s lap. The father meets Lilliana’s eyes and smiles sheepishly. 

Lilliana walks over to them. She kneels to be on the same level as the boy. “Hello, there. What’s your name?”

The boy, not having expected to actually get her attention, blushes and hides his face in his father’s shoulder. His father chuckles. “Don’t be shy, now. Introduce yourself to Her Majesty.” 

“Alexander,” the boy says, his voice muffled slightly. 

“I’m glad you’ve come to visit me, Alexander,” Lilliana says. 

Alexander peeks out from his hiding spot. “You are?” 

Lilliana laughs lightly. “Oh, yes. I love getting visitors. What’s brought you here today?” 

Alexander looks to his father, who nods. “My window broke,” he says.

“Oh, dear.” 

“The wind cracked the frame,” Alexander’s father says. “I didn’t notice until it loosened enough to blow the whole thing in. I boarded it up, but the house still got far too cold.” 

“You let us know if you need anything. It’s my job to help the people of Arendelle,” Lilliana says. 

Alexander’s father inclines his head towards her. “Of course. Thank you, your Majesty.”

Lilliana stands and continues around the room, talking to the people as she goes. The air is filled with the hum of multiple conversations all overlapping each other. The whistling of the storm outside is drowned out and forgotten, and a peace settles over them. 

That peace is interrupted when all the windows get thrown open at once.

Strong, cold winds burst into the room suddenly, the window shutters banging loudly against the wall. Blankets and dishes are torn from people’s possession. Children scream and reach for their parents. 

“Get those windows closed!” Lilliana shouts. “Secure them!”

It’s only a few moments of chaos before the guards get the windows closed and latched once again, but it’s enough to wipe away the calm serenity the room had had before. Lilliana, Angus, and the attendants get to work to return the things people had torn from their hands. In due time, the peace returns. 

They spend hours in the throne room. Some people leave to return to their own homes, some more people come and then leave again, some stay right where they are, trying to wait out the storm. Lilliana talks to all of them, the adults and the children and the elderly. They all thank her for her kindness, her hospitality. 

“Bless you, your Majesty,” one of the old women says, taking Lilliana’s hand in both of hers. “Your parents would be so proud of you.” 

Lilliana’s smile softens. “Thank you, that means a lot.”

“Hey,” Angus intercepts her as she leaves the conversation, “it’s late, you should go to bed.”

“I’m fine. You, on the other hand, look like you could use some sleep.” 

“Don’t turn my own doting against me. Have you even had dinner? Or lunch?” 

“I’ve eaten.” Lilliana tries to sidestep Angus, but he catches her by the elbow and leads her to the door.

“You haven’t stopped since people showed up this afternoon. You’re going to bed.” 

Lilliana huffs. “You haven’t stopped either. This is blatant hypocrisy.” 

“I have, actually. If you’ll remember, I requested you take dinner with me, and you refused. So-” Angus stops once they’re standing outside the ballroom- “you’re going to eat, then you’re going to rest.” 

Lilliana pulls her elbow out of Angus’s grip and crosses her arms. “You can’t tell me what to do, I’m-” 

“Don’t you dare pull the Queen card on me.” 

Lilliana opens her mouth to protest again, but Angus puts his hands on her shoulders and levels her with a serious look. 

“Go to bed,” he says, his voice firm, yet gentle. “At the very least, go to your room and lie down.” 

“But I need to take care of-” 

“They’re taken care of.” Angus slides his hands down from her shoulders to her upper arms, giving them a soft squeeze. “How many times do we have to have this conversation? You need to sleep enough and eat properly and do things for yourself every once in a while.” 

Lilliana drops her arms back to her sides. “If I go to my room for an hour will you let this go?” 

“The whole night.” 

“The  _ whole- _ ”

Angus pushes her in the direction of the royal chambers. “Go on. Lay down for a few hours. I’ll get someone to bring you some food. You can come back in the morning.” 

Lilliana complies, albeit reluctantly, grumbling the whole way.

She pauses when she enters her room, looking at her bed. She shakes her head and passes by it, opting instead to head to her balcony. The doors are still rattling slightly, the winds outside hammering against them, but nonetheless she pulls them open, steps outside, and closes them behind her. 

She leans against the banister as the wind blows past her, the chill slipping right off her unnaturally warm skin. It pulls some of her hair loose from its braid, whipping it around her face, but Lilliana pays it no mind. She looks, again, out past the kingdom. Something squeezes in her chest at the sight of the worn down paths, stretching and twisting and leading to who-knows-what. Just like she did when she was small, she wonders what’s out there. What’s at the end of those paths? What would she find if she ventured away from the well-ridden roads?

_ “There’s nothing for you out there,”  _ she hears her tutor say.  _ “This is where you’re meant to be. Quit staring out the window and focus on your work.” _

But then she hears Angus’s voice. 

_ “You need to do things for yourself.” _

_ “You don’t need to focus on everyone else all the time.” _

_ “You should do something that you want to do.” _

Lilliana jumps when her thoughts are interrupted by a tapping sound coming from behind her. She turns to see a staff member standing behind the balcony doors, holding a tray of food. 

“Apologies for startling you, your Majesty,” they say as Lilliana comes back inside. “Prince Angus asked that I bring you this.” 

“Thank you,” Lilliana says, taking the tray. 

“Is there anything else I can do for you, your Majesty?” 

Lilliana looks up from the tray of food, back out her balcony doors to the night beyond. She can feel her heart beating wildly against her ribcage. “Yes, actually,” she doesn’t take her eyes off the horizon, “could you get my brother for me? Tell him I’d like to speak with him.” 

The staff member nods and leaves the room. Some minutes later, Angus walks in. 

“Lilli? You wanted to talk?” He shivers. “Why is it so cold in here?”

It only takes him a moment to answer his own question. Both the balcony doors are wide open, letting in the chill. Lilliana stands outside, her back to him. The dinner he had gotten sent up for her sits on her vanity, cold and untouched.

Angus shivers again as wind blows through the room and he walks over to the balcony threshold. “Lilliana? What are you doing?” 

She turns to look at him, a serious resolve on her face. “I want to go to the forest.”

Angus blinks, dumbstruck, completely forgetting about the chill in the air. “What?” 

“I want to know what’s out there.”

“You- what? What forest? What are you talking about?” 

She unfurls a map that Angus didn’t realize she had in her hand and holds it out to him. He takes it, and she looks over the top edge of it and points to a drawn-on cluster of trees, a fair distance away from the kingdom. “There. That forest.” 

Angus meets her eyes and realizes that whatever this is, she’s completely serious about it. “Where on  _ Earth _ is this coming from?” 

“You said I need to do something for myself, and I’ve decided this is it.” 

“You know, when I said that I meant sleeping in, reading a book-” 

“No, I want- well, initially I just wanted to go out of the kingdom, off the main roads, and see what I could find.” Lilliana starts speaking quickly and a little manically. Angus stares at her, not knowing how to react. “But I knew you wouldn’t like it. You’d want me to have a- a destination, of sorts. So I remembered I had this map of the area outside of Arendelle-”

“Why do you just  _ have  _ a map in your room?” Angus interrupts, trying to latch on to anything normal about this situation.

“I was doing some work one night and left it here. Anyway, I pulled it out and took a look and I saw that forest and it felt  _ right _ , so I decided that that’s where I want to go.” 

Angus looks back down at the map, caught completely off guard by this very sudden and unexpected development. “This… Lilli, this place is at least a week’s ride away. It’s- it’s not even  _ named _ . You have no idea what could be out there.” 

“So I’m going to find out.” 

“ _ Why? _ ”

Lilliana throws her arms up, frustrated. “I don’t  _ know! _ I just want to!” 

“It’s dangerous!” 

“I- ugh-” she tangles her hands in her wind-swept hair. “I  _ know _ , and there’s this voice in my head that’s  _ screaming _ at me not to go, but then…” her hands move from her hair to cover her face. She sighs and drops them back to her sides as the energy she’d been buzzing with seeps out of her, “there’s also a part of me that remembers being small and just  _ dying  _ to know what’s out there.” 

Angus quietly rolls up the map and holds it in one hand, putting the other on Lilliana’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Lilli-” 

Lilliana meets her brother’s eyes, desperate. “What if it’s answers, Angus?” 

He pulls her into a hug. Her warmth seeps into him and he props his chin on top of her head. “You don’t know that,” he whispers. 

“You don’t know that it’s not.”

Angus says nothing, he looks out to the horizon Lilliana had been staring at. Darkness and trees and fog and the unknown. He wonders if she sees something out there that he doesn’t. 

“All I’m asking for,” she says, pulling back from their hug to look at him again, “is enough time to get there and back, plus a few days. If it’s too dangerous, I’ll turn around and come home. I promise.” 

Angus tucks a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “Well, technically speaking, you don’t need my permission.” 

“This is big, Angus, and I need to know that you’re okay with it.” 

“I’m- well, I’m not okay with it, but I can see that this is important to you, so I’m going to say yes.” Lilliana smiles and hugs him again. “But you’re not going alone.”

He can feel her roll her eyes from where she’s got her head resting on his shoulder. “I’m not taking guards with me on some… magical self-discovery adventure.” 

“No,” his hold on her tightens just a fraction, “you’re taking me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo what's this? We're finally getting into Actual Plot? It's truly a miracle.


	5. The Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilliana and Angus make it to the forest and already find much more than they were expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent chapter lengths? I don't know her.

Lilliana’s fortunate that she’s the one in charge, because no one can tell her that she and Angus can’t go on a spontaneous trip to a mysterious forest in the wilderness beyond the kingdom. They can advise against it, sure, but it doesn’t mean she has to  _ take _ that advice. 

Lucretia is very adamantly against this trip and Magnus is openly uncomfortable with the fact that she’s refusing to take any guards along. But, again, there’s nothing they can do to stop her. 

“You’re absolutely  _ sure _ you don’t want someone with you?” Magnus asks for the hundredth time. “I’ll accompany you myself.” 

“Your Majesty,” Lucretia says, “I know you’ve made up your mind about this trip, but please, if you must go, you should take at least one guard with you.” 

Lilliana and Angus sit atop their horses as Magnus checks over their supplies again. 

“I’m not taking anyone but Angus with me,” she says. “Our destination is about a week’s ride each way. If we aren’t back in three weeks,  _ then _ you can send guards after us.”

Lucretia and Magnus, realizing this is the best they’re going to get, let the subject drop. After quadruple-checking that they have everything they need, Magnus deems them ready to go.

It’s early in the morning, not many townsfolk are out and about quite yet, but the ones that are watch and wave as they ride past. Lilliana smiles and waves back, the perfect picture of their Queen. When they reach the outskirts of the kingdom, she pauses and looks back over her shoulder. 

_ This is a mistake.  _ The voice in her head says.

_ You need to know what’s happening in the kingdom. You need to be in charge. In control.  _

_ If something comes up, Lucretia is perfectly capable.  _ She rationalizes.  _ It’s only a few weeks. I’ll be back before they even know I’m gone.  _

_ That’s exactly what Mama and Papa said.  _

Her grip on the reins tightens.

_ It’s not the same. I’m not- _

“Lilli?” She’s pulled out of her thoughts by Angus’s voice. She looks over at him, and he’s got concern written all over his face. “Are you okay? We can go back if you-” 

“No.” She swallows her anxiety and tamps down her fears of leaving the kingdom behind. “I’m okay. I’m- I want to do this, Angus. I’ll be fine.” 

He nods, not fully convinced, but he knows that if they turn around, she’ll jump right back into working. The whole point of this is to get her to take a break, so they move forward. 

The ride is easy. The weather acts in their favour and Magnus made sure they were well-supplied for their travels. They reach the forest as the sun is just starting to set on their fifth day away from the kingdom. They pause a short distance from the treeline. There’s fog there, stopping at the treeline and going no further, as if it hits a wall.

“That’s… odd,” Angus says.

Lilliana shrugs and gets off her horse. “Fog has to stop somewhere.” 

“Okay, maybe,” Angus gets off his horse too, “but it seems weird that it  _ only  _ covers the forest.” 

“Are you scared?” Lilliana teases, pointedly ignoring her heart hammering in her chest. 

“No,” Angus says defensively.

“Then go on,” she gestures towards the forest, “Queen’s orders.” 

He rolls his eyes and walks up to the fog, leading his horse forward by the reins held in his hand. After a moment of hesitation, he steps into it and is promptly thrown backwards by a wave of force. He stumbles and falls to the ground, letting go of his horse’s reins to throw his arms out and catch himself. Both horses rear back, spooked by the commotion. Lilliana loses her grip on the reins of her own horse and both of them run off, back in the direction they came from. 

“Well that’s… great…” Angus says, sitting up and watching as their horses run farther and farther away. 

Lilliana rushes to his side and falls to her knees. “Are you okay?” She says, a tinge of panic in her voice.

“Yeah.” He stands up and brushes dirt off himself. “Didn’t even hurt.” 

He holds a hand out, Lilliana takes it and stands. “I’m sorry,” she says, “you could’ve been hurt. Maybe we-”

“Hey.” Angus interrupts her and gives her hand a squeeze. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Do  _ you  _ still want to do this?” 

She hesitates, looking from Angus to the forest and back again. 

_ No,  _ the voice in her head says.  _ You can’t go in there. It’s dangerous. You’ll get hurt. Angus will get hurt. It’ll only cause pain and suffering and- _

__

“Yes. I do.” 

“Alright then,” Angus says. “So we just need to figure out a way through a magical fog barrier.” 

Lilliana looks to the wall of fog before them. She steps up to it, pulling Angus along by the hand. She lifts her free hand and reaches out. Just as her fingertips make contact with the fog, it parts, revealing a clear path into the forest. She feels breathless. She didn’t think she would get this far. She didn’t think this trip would even  _ be _ anything. She vaguely hoped it would bring her answers, maybe she could finally learn how or why or where she got her powers, but now it seems that that’s… actually a possibility. You don’t see forests protected by walls of magic fog every day, it might mean something. 

“Well,” she says, speaking over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, “I did say it would be a magical self-discovery adventure.” 

Angus looks over at her, but her eyes are fixed on the opening ahead of them. 

“You ready to get that adventure started?” He asks. 

She nods, letting out a long breath and ignoring the voice in her head insisting she should go home. 

They’re only a few steps into the forest when the fog closes in around them. A strong wind blows at their backs, forcing them further down a path they can no longer see, making them lose their grip of each other’s hands, until they’re spit out at the other end. Inside the forest, the fog, just as it did from the outside, stops at the treeline and ventures no further than that and it covers the sky above, softening the orange rays of the setting sun. 

Lilliana looks back at the fog behind them, a solid, opaque wall once again. She reaches out to touch it, only this time it doesn’t part. “No…” She reaches out and touches it again. Nothing. “No, no, no,” her heart squeezes in her chest as the fog continues to stay put. She throws her hand out, shooting a burst of flame into it. There’s a flash of light, and Lilliana ducks as her own flame comes shooting right back out at her. She takes a step back. “What have I done?” She says, her voice just above a whisper. “What did I do?” 

“Hey,” Angus reaches out and cups her cheeks, making her look him in the eye. They’re warm to the touch, almost hot, heating up as her emotions rise. “It’s okay.” 

Her hands are hot too as she reaches up and takes a tight hold of his wrists, not pulling his hands away, just holding on to him, grounding herself. “Right,” she says. She composes herself, although the heat of her hands on his wrists and her cheeks under his palms give away her worry. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’re just… stuck in a forest surrounded by magical fog. This is all good.”

Angus keeps his voice level as he speaks, “we can find a way out, okay? We’ll get home, I just need you to-” he breathes deeply, indicating for Lilliana to copy him.

“Breathe,” he says quietly on his exhale.

She follows his lead, taking a deep breath.

“Stay calm,” she murmurs on her exhale. “And don’t be afraid.” 

They stand there, breathing together in this strange place, with only the sound of rustling leaves to bother them. Lilliana’s grip on Angus’s wrists loosens, her cheeks and hands cool down as her emotions calm. 

The quiet serenity of this moment is abruptly interrupted by a loud cracking sound. The two of them look up, searching for the source of the noise. Angus’s hands drop from where they were holding Lilliana’s cheeks. She’s suddenly gripped with an overwhelming feeling of dread and panic. She grabs Angus by the elbow and stumbles backwards a few steps, pulling him along with her, and the two of them tumble to the ground. 

Angus pushes himself up to sit and looks over at her. “Lilli, what-” but he’s interrupted by a tree crashing to the ground right in front of them, exactly in the spot they’d just been standing. 

~ 

Taako’s having a decent day. He wouldn’t exactly call it  _ good _ , ‘cause when you’ve been trapped in a forest for about 30-something years now, your days can only achieve a certain level of good. 

Sure, as is the case for all the elves that were around when the forest got closed off, Taako had been here his whole life with no intention of leaving, but it’s the principle of the thing. And there were losses, the day it happened. Elves and humans alike were lost to panic-ensued chaos, the Arendellians couldn’t return home, the temperature permanently dipped to always being some level of cold, and Lup… 

That’s all beside the point. The point is, Taako’s having a decent day until he’s not. 

He’s hanging out in his home, relaxing with his very handsome human boyfriend (one of the only good things that came out of this whole forest situation), when he hears the distinct crack and crash of a tree falling in the distance. 

“Taako-”

“Yeah, I heard it.” Taako groans, pushing himself up to stand. “Remind me why I agreed to be the one in charge?” 

“Because you’re the elf who garnered a truce between the elves and Arendellians,” Kravitz says, standing and pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

“Remind me why I did that?” 

Kravitz rolls his eyes and takes Taako’s hand to lead him outside. 

“Taako,” Ren, Taako’s second in command, walks up to them just as they step out, “a tree-” 

“I know,” Taako says, “we heard it.” 

“There’s already a group that’s ready to go,” Ren says, “if you guys are all good.” 

When a tree falls in the forest, it usually means the earth elemental is upset (more so than usual), and when any of the elementals are upset, it’s everyone’s problem. So, when a tree falls, a group of elves and humans is sent out to investigate the area to see if there’s anything that can be done to appease the angry elemental. There’s a hope that maybe one of these days they can convince the elementals to let them all go. It’s been thirty years of no success on that front, so at this point investigating the fallen trees is  _ actually _ mostly just for the firewood, and cutting up and transporting a whole tree worth of wood takes a good number of people to do, even with magic involved. 

Taako and Kravitz, as the respective leaders of the elves and humans, have to accompany the group. Partially because they’re in charge, and partially because they’re the ones who sparked the truce between the two groups. Maybe it’s been 30 years, but you can never be too diligent in keeping the peace. 

The two of them follow behind as they all walk in the direction the sound came from. Taako’s planning on hanging back and letting the others take care of it until the entire group stops in its tracks. 

“Guys,” Ren hisses from the front and waves for them to come join her. She’s a small distance ahead of the rest of the group, crouched behind a large bush. Taako and Kravitz come up beside her and peer around the leaves to see what she’s looking at. 

They see the base of the fallen tree, roots torn up out of the ground, the dirt and surrounding plant life disturbed as per usual, but there’s something else.  _ Two _ something elses. 

Two people, two  _ humans, _ a boy and a girl that Taako’s never seen before are lingering around the base of the tree. 

“We don’t know them,” Taako whispers. “Krav, do you know them?” 

“No.” 

“What the fuck are they doing here then?” 

“I don’t  _ know _ , why would I-” 

“Do you hear that?” Taako and Kravitz fall silent at the sound of a voice. The girl’s looked up from where she had been inspecting the tree, and instead is looking out into the forest, towards their hidden group. 

“Hear what?” The boy asks. 

“It sounded like… people talking? It’s gone now.” 

“What kind of talking? Like, magical destiny voices calling to you, or…?” 

“No, I don’t think so. Just… people whispering to each other.” She looks over at her companion as he comes to stand next to her, “maybe we should try to find them. If there are people here, they might know how to get past the fog. They could help us.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Taako says, stepping out from his hiding spot.

The two newcomers jump, startled at his sudden intrusion. Ren, Kravitz, and the others from their group reveal themselves as well. Taako notices that the stranger’s eyes widen as they take in him and Ren and the other elves, attention lingering on his ears for a moment too long. 

Taako crosses his arms. “What? Never seen an elf before?”

The two exchange a glance, and the boy addresses Taako, “with all due respect, I- we didn’t even know that there were… more than just humans. Or that there was anybody out here.”

Taako scoffs. “So King what’s-his-face tries to burn the place down, gets us all locked in here, and Prince what’s-his-face keeps it all under wraps. Typical.”

The girl’s brow furrows. “What are you talking about?” 

Taako eyes her over. Her clothes are well-made, trimmed with delicate embroidery. Her hair is braided back, with some stray curls that have fallen out hanging around her face. He considers, momentarily, giving her the exposition she’s looking for, but he comes back to himself. “I don’t have to tell you anything,” he says. “Who even are you? I don’t know you.” 

“Oh,” she says, “it seems we’ve neglected to introduce ourselves.” She squares her shoulders and straightens her spine, the minute adjustments seemingly making her entire self double in size. “I am Her Royal Majesty Queen Lilliana of Arendelle,” the girl-- the  _ Queen _ says. “Accompanying me is my brother, Prince Angus.” 

_ Royalty.  _ Of course they’re fucking royalty.

Taako glances over at Kravitz, who looks… awestruck. Shitty King Gregor be damned, he’s still been loyal to Arendelle all these years. Taako assumes it must be a little jarring to suddenly be faced with its new ruler. 

“Your Majesty-” 

“Great,” Taako says flatly, interrupting whatever Kravitz was about to say, “we’ve got more _royals_ in the forest. ‘Cause that went _so_ _well_ last time.” 

The Queen clasps her hands behind her back. “I am unaware of what history this forest holds and what events you’re referring to. However, from what I understand, my grandfather made an attempt to burn it down?”

Taako opens his mouth to throw another jab at her, but Kravitz puts a hand on his back, quieting him, and answers instead, “yes, Your Majesty. He went against the wishes of the elves, and burned more than was expected. It angered the elementals, which are magical beings that reside here, and so they put the fog around the forest. None of us have been able to get out since.”

The Queen nods and looks at Taako, who’s scowling unpleasantly at her. “It may not be much consolation, but not many in Arendelle hold my grandfather in high regard these days. Even my father said that he was a bad example of a King. I offer my condolences for his actions, and once I return to Arendelle, should you want it, I will do whatever I can for your people and the forest to help you recover from the damages he caused.” 

“I think your royal family has done enough for the forest at this point,” Taako can feel the eyes of all the Arendellians on his back as he snaps at their Queen. “It doesn’t need you to help it recover.” 

“That’s just as well, sir. Whatever you wish.”

“Don’t call me  _ sir _ like I’m one of your stuffy noblemen.” 

“Considering I don’t know your name, and simply calling you  _ elf _ would be unbelievably rude, I went with my next best option.” 

Taako lets out a startled bark of laughter. “Queen’s got an attitude!” 

“I wouldn’t so much call it an attitude as I would an awfully specific skill in reminding men of the obvious.”

She’s got sass, Taako will give her that. He’s almost inclined to like her. 

Almost. 

“So,” he says, advancing on her, “if you didn’t know about your ol’ grandpappy’s history with this place, and you haven’t just come here to finish what he started, what  _ are  _ you doing here?” 

“Taako,” Kravitz says, coming up beside him, “cut it out. She hasn’t done anything.” 

Taako’s eyebrows shoot up as he turns to look at Kravitz. “So we’re doing this now, huh?” 

Kravitz sighs, “Taako-” 

“Got all cozy with me so you didn’t die out here  _ just  _ long enough for your precious royal family to come back for you.” 

“You know that’s not-” 

“-and now that they’re here, well, what good am I?” 

“We’ve talked about this, you know that’s not what this is.” 

“Do I? Or are you just going to run back to your kingdom and-” 

“That’s  _ enough _ .” A burst of flame flies between Taako and Kravitz, sending both of them stumbling a few steps away from each other in shock. Taako looks over to the source, and sees the  _ fucking Queen of Arendelle _ . 

She looks at the hand she had thrown out, and a flash of uneasiness crosses her face, quickly enough that Taako almost misses it, before she schools her expression back to that of pure regality. Her hand is smoking slightly as she drops it back to her side, her posture still perfect. 

Taako scowls and marches toward her, getting right up in her face. “How the  _ fuck _ did you do that?”

He’s grabbed by his upper arm and pulled backwards. “Watch it,” Kravitz says. 

Taako yanks his arm out of Kravitz’s grip. “No, I’m not going to  _ watch it _ , Kravitz. No one’s been able to do fire magic for  _ thirty years _ . I think I deserve to know how and why  _ she- _ ” Taako throws an arm out towards the Queen- “of all people,  _ can _ .” 

“What do you mean?” The Queen asks. 

Taako glares at her. “Because of your grandfather, the fire elemental is  _ gone. _ Why can you, a human and  _ descendant _ of that man, throw out flames like that? Humans can’t  _ do _ magic, and none of  _ us _ have been able to do fire magic since the elemental disappeared, not even those of us who specialized in it. So  _ how the fuck did you do that? _ ” 

The Queen doesn’t flinch, doesn’t even react to Taako’s anger. “I was born with these powers,” she says, her voice even, “it may as well be instinct.” 

“Bullshit. You had to learn it from somewhere.” 

“It’s the truth.” 

Taako looks her over again, evaluating. He focuses on sensing the magic within her. It’s powerful and distinct and woven into her very being. It’s not like any magic Taako’s ever felt before. It doesn’t feel like typical elven magic. It feels… immutable. Elves can channel magical energy into pretty much any effect they want, but this is  _ just _ fire. It’s brighter and warmer than even the magic of the most skilled fire specialist Taako’s ever met.

Then he picks up on something else. It’s not the magic within her, it’s something around her. Years old, powerful, established once then never removed. Something about the signature coming off of it is… familiar. 

Taako narrows his eyes. “There’s magic around you that’s not your own.”

The Queen raises her eyebrows, showing only subdued curiosity and surprise. “I do? What is it?” 

“There’s one way to find out.” 

“Which is?” 

Taako grins and lifts one of his hands. “Taking it off.”

He snaps, and there’s the telltale white swirl of magic being dispelled. The Queen raises her hands to shield her eyes. Once the glow dissipates, she lowers them and Taako feels all the air leave his lungs.

“You can’t just use magic on me with no warning,” she says, displeased. “What was that? What did you do?” 

Her eyes are a glittering gold, glaring right at Taako. Her ears are pointed, although they’re shorter than a typical elf’s ears, and are pressed flat against her head, a clear indication of fear and suspicion. She’s elven. She’s an elf and Queen of Arendelle and… 

She looks just like Lup. 

The magical signature felt familiar because it was  _ Lup’s  _ magic. A glamour. A permanent disguise for an elven child in a human world. Something that not just anyone could get rid of. Taako could dispel it because he’s  _ Taako _ , because Lup’s his family, his heart and soul and-

Taako can’t breathe. 

Of course she figured out the baby spell by herself. Lup always wanted to have a kid eventually, she wouldn’t let a thing like being the only magic user around stop her. And not only did Lup have a kid, she had one with the son of the King who tried to burn down the forest. Shouldn’t that guy be the ruler of Arendelle? If the baby’s in that position instead, what does that mean?

If the baby’s Queen, where’s Lup?

“Excuse me, sir,” the Queen-  _ Lilliana  _ says, “I’ll ask again for you to tell me what you did to me.” Her eyes flit between the others around them before landing back on Taako. “Why is everyone looking at me like I’ve grown another head?” 

“I took the glamour off,” Taako says, his voice strained. 

“Glamour?” 

He reaches out with shaking hands and cups her cheeks. Lilliana’s clearly confused as he does so, but she doesn’t stop him. His eyes scan her face, and he sees it now. He sees Lup. Not just in the eyes and the ears, but her hair has Lup’s curls, her cheeks have Lup’s freckles, she’s got Lup’s confidence.

Taako can feel tears starting to burn at his eyes. “The glamour… the- the one that she…” Taako swallows thickly. “Lup…” he says, quiet and on the edge of breaking.

Lilliana’s eyes widen, her breath catches in her throat and her ears twitch. “You knew my mother?” She asks, her voice barely above a whisper. 

The past tense is a bad sign. It has Taako fighting back his worst fears as they try to rise to the surface. “She never mentioned me?” His voice matches her whisper. It’s all he can manage. 

Lilliana takes a step back, away from Taako’s hands cradling her face. “I still don’t know who you are.” 

“Taako. I’m- I’m Taako. She  _ never _ mentioned me?” 

“Not to my knowledge, no.” She glances over at her brother, but he seems to still be rebooting from the reveal of Lilliana’s elven features. “But you knew her?” 

Taako’s heart aches. She never mentioned him? Not once? Not even in passing? This is Lup’s daughter. The baby she always dreamed of having one day. His niece. Taako has a niece, and neither of them knew about it until now. Lilliana still doesn’t know, because he hasn’t told her. Because Lup never mentioned him. 

“I’m her brother,” he says. “Her twin.”

Lilliana’s posture is perfect, her face schooled into only showing vague surprise, but her voice trembles ever so slightly. “But if you’re her brother- if you’re twins, then that would make her… which would make me…” she trails off and reaches one hand up to her ear. She touches her earlobe and runs her fingers up, and up, and up the edge of her ear until it tapers off into a point. She flinches at the unfamiliar feeling and pulls her hand away. 

“You never knew?” Taako asks.

“No.” She stares at the hand she’d just used to feel the point of her ear. “She never said- she said she was alone.” She looks back up at Taako, her composure starting to crack a little bit. “That’s why Papa invited her to stay in the castle when they met. She had no one and nowhere to go.” She looks over at her brother. “Did you know about this?” 

He shakes his head, eyes still blown wide in shock. 

Her hands shake, tiny wisps of smoke curling up off them. “I don’t… I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any  _ sense _ . She wasn’t- she was human.  _ I’m _ human. I-” she clenches her hands into fists in an attempt to quell their shaking and to return to her Queenly outer shell- “I  _ demand _ you explain this to me. Right now.”

Taako’s hurt. He’s upset that Lup seemingly never, not even once, talked about him to her kid. But that kid, Lilliana, Taako’s niece, is standing in front of him now, hands trembling and thrown entirely off her guard. She’s what’s important right now. Taako walks up to her, taking hold of one of her hands and cupping her cheek. They’re both hot to the touch. She meets his eyes, gold looking into gold, and Taako can see so much uncertainty and confusion in her. He gives her hand a squeeze. 

“Looks like we’ve got a lot to talk about, kid.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Taako makes his appearance!!!! (and uncle Kravitz)  
> .......anyway this was the mandatory "familiar......but not too familiar" chapter that's present in basically every longer taz fic I hope you enjoyed it and as always comments and kudos are much appreciated!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> So I wasn't actually going to start posting this fic until it was completely written, but I caved under the need for validation. I have a small backlog of chapters right now, so this should update regularly for the first tiny bit, and hopefully I can increase that backlog before it runs out, but I'm really excited for this!! I first came up with this au while I was literally IN the theater watching Frozen 2 on boxing day, and then I came home and said to my dear friend Desiree_Harding "hey consider this-" and from then on the two of us started hashing out all the details for this story. I know pretty much exactly how it goes, all the big story beats I need to hit, I just need to... yknow... actually get it all written down nicely.   
> [Here's the playlist for this au!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RY2NFTe4tYMqL2dNNaN1C?si=TeoNn86SRNuRMddXW6yTQw)
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated!! As are subscriptions and bookmarks!! My tumblr is @fandomsnstuff, and I also have a Lilliana-centric tumblr @lillianabluejeans


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